“WHY DO PERSIST STRANGER?”“There must be a way.”“WHY DO YOU SEEK THAT WHICH YOU CAN NOT HAVE WE ARE ALLL PRISONERS OF THE ZONE NO ONE CAN ESCAPE”“Screw you … GAARGH … GET OUT OF MY HEAD”“who are you talking to?”“Shut up”“fine”“man you are going insane”“One … who the hell asked your opinion. Two … look who’s fucking talkingI do not care what any of you have to say, so just shut the hell up. “*occasionally sipping on the wine* “It’s going to be very long walk.

Sure could use a proper meal right about now. Should have snatched the sawn-off from that shmuck back there, plenty wild animals now that nature has reclaimed the land.Well, what do we have here. An abandoned camp site, at least we’ll have a nice place to stay at tonight. “Кто ты? Что ты хочес?” *sigh* again with this crap“Kашэтся что oн не понял.”“Блин … Who’re you an what you want?”Don’t suppose everyone could just calmdown and put their weaponsaway.*the men holster their rifles* well that was easySo this is your camp?“Yes … I would still like to know who you are and what do you want”Just a traveller passing by … all I wish is a place to stay and perhaps a meal if it’s not too much to ask.“Sure, no problem. We have some canned beans, a little past expiration date though.”It’ll do just fine. this is the second time already, something is not quite right here

*all three sit around the fire, the two strangers idly chat in Russian, the traveller chuckles upon hearing one joke**in Russian* “So you do understand after all”*they continue to talk*“Hey Rõbak, the dogs have been gone for some time now”“So?”“Not that I’m complaining, they were annoying as hell but they’ve been fallowing us for the past three days.”“Point being?”“Why did they suddenly take off?”“Perhaps they got bored of chasing us or figured we were too dangerous to attack.”“If they were just regular mutts, I might believe that but they had some of those weird wolves in the pack, those don’t give up easily. Something must’ve spooked them.”“Perhaps it was one of those freaks that can control your mind. Heh, what do you think stranger?”Wouldn’t know, I’m new to these parts.“Bullshit, rookies don’t travel this path, most of them don’t even know of it. Say, why are going east anyway?”Oldman I would rather notspeak about personal matters.*Rõbak shuts up and for a brief moment utter terror manifests on his face, unsure as to what may happen next, he decides to stay quiet for the remainder of the evening and instructs his companion to fallow suit*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Been a while since I last did something with the lil idea. That part has been sitting in the word doc for quite a while and I have more in some notebook somewhere, which I will now look up do something about since I have bugger all else to do.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Also an unfinished piece of something else that has been sitting on some paper scrap.

Aleksandr Dobriansky or Mышка Shurik, as he was know to most.When he first came into the zone, a young lad just over twenty, silent and keeping to himself, you would never have thought he'd ever make it past his first month. But he was clever that one and cautious, could somehow spot the difference between a proper zoner and the rest. Observing and listening to them he soon learned the way of things, he knew which raids to take part, which people to trust and which to avoid.By forty he had became respectable name ... who ever said that mice can't become great eh? I have heard that even some bandits had second thoughts when they learned he was involved.Alas 'The best laid schemes of mice and men' ... suppose something finally snapped and he tried to make the big score. He might have even made it, if it wasn't for those damn mercs, like the scorcher and the monolith weren't enough.

Men like him are few and far between.Friend or adversary, he will be missed.

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

Every once in a while you might have noticed that upon entering the Z&L you get chills running down your spine or something of the sorts. It is a little known thing that a controller inhabits the lower levels. No-one really knows where he came from, at some point he just sort of integrated himself. Now some of you might say this is utter nonsense but next time you are there, take care to notice the behaviour of some of the regulars and the relative ease of mind the staff treats most threats. Tread lightly stalker.

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

Currently trying to figure out how to put down and what sort of preliminary changes to do to what I have written in the notepad. It is more of a narration than a dialogue.

Also, thoughts on the last piece?

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

Not the piece I should be working on, it'l never get ready at this rate, though this could probably use some more work as well.

You all think you're some hot shots, come face to face with all the ZONE so kindly offers and lived to tell the tale ... you don't know shit. The are things in the zone worse than even those god damned controllers. See this hand, this wasn't done by any dog, tentacle face or anomaly, no, this here was done by a much more devious enemy. It was during a survey into one part of the underground complexes in Agroprom, a tunnel that allegedly went straight to Yantar. That would of course been a damn godsend, a quick path safe from whatever beasties roaming above and even from those damned surges. We went down there and started prying the door open, as thick as the ones you'd find in those nuclear bunkers ... should've been the first clue. Of course there were the standard anomalies you'd find down in any basement or tunnel, even a few artefacts, nothing special but still. Took about half a day to find out that the tunnel was a dead end, there were lots of side rooms though, all sealed up. We should have just left but man is a curious and greedy bastard, 'thus died the cat', unfortunately the ZONE doesn't regard humans any higher. We couldn't just leave all these rooms unchecked, who knows what treasures they may have had inside them. So we got knocking, broke into few of those those rooms, didn't see much useful, bunch broken down lab equipment and some papers that we figured hardly had any value. By then it had gotten too late to head back, decision was made to stay the night, better idea than to run through the night and pray there ain't no suckers around ... looking back, would've taken a sucker any day.Didn't get much sleep, woke soon to a sound resembling someone coughing out their lungs. Looked around and saw the last person alive besides me but basically he was already dead as well. Only reason I got off as easily as I did was because I was the only shmuck lucky enough to get a seva, slightly broken as it was. I grabbed what papers I could, closed the doors as best as I could and ran like the devil himself was behind me.

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

In the ever so fitting words of one Dr.Thrax "The suspense, it's killing you."

But back serious now. Nothing more to it, least for now. It was just those three first setences sitting idly until I got bored on a two hour train ride.One supposes the end does look a bit like a cliffhanger, mayhaps I'll work on that later ... time will tell.But anyway, I take it is worth tinkering on then?

And to finish off with the good doctor "You come for the toxins but you'll stay - because you're dead! HAHAHA!"

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

Been quiet for quite some time but I have not forgotten, still been tinkering on it every now and then when I find myself on a decent day While this piece does not quite pick up from where I left off here, I am pretty sure that this part would come after the stuff I have yet to properly (as well as i can anyway) put down. To be honest I haven't even arsed arsed to get a proper text program on the new laptop yet and it has been some two or three months since i got it. Sometimes i find myself thinking about how i am and really fucks up my mood, even more than it usually is. But hey, least this sack of meat and bones still breathes, so i guess i got that going for me, which is nice ... i guess.

I'm not sure as to where i am or how i got here. In fact, I am not even sure as to who I am ... the only things I found on myself were an odd glowing rock and a nearly scorched piece of leather, i think, that has some really weird markings on it. It has been quite a while since I've discovered myself here and I'm not one step closer to getting out. Every time it seemed like i was getting close to an exist I've somehow ended up right at the spot where i woke up ... maybe I've gone mad.This peculiar rock i have, has this ghastly blueish-green glow, not particularly bright but enough to help navigate this place, though it is growing dimmer rather quickly. Upon closer inspection of my clothes I discovered some sewn in compartments, which seem to contain some powder with a glow similar to the rock, which is also fading. I find the powder more peculiar than the rock, even more so because the placement of the compartments bears some similarity with a diagram on piece of leather.Even more time has passed, I keep having these odd feelings ... like there is something in the back of my mind whispering. Having had nothing else to do, i started going through all the rooms i could access. I have yet to find anything useful, I have however stumbled upon something somewhat disturbing, upon finding some molded over food rations I realized that i haven't felt hungry or thirsty all this time not to mention, i don't think i have slept at all since i woke up ... of course i could simply be delusional. I must be delusional, because for some time now I've also felt a tingling sensation all over my body and my skin is starting to look like that of some scaled animal ... mh, scaled may not be the right descriptive. It would seem that i blanked out for a while. I awoke this time in what looks like a settlement. The people don't seem particularly friendly, all they've said so far is that I am in the ZONE ... sounds familiar for some reason.

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

Now that i think about it, the last two bits could perhaps be tied together if altered somewhat.The lazy bastard that i am, haven't managed to create a proper continuation from the mess of notes i've got scribbled down in different places

In the mean times some more random crud.

Welcome to the Zone. You best leave your old life behind because there is no going back now.The laws of the outside world do not apply here, neither do the laws of nature as you know them. The very ground you walk upon may well open under your feet and swallow you whole. Present an opening and even your fellow man will be at your throat, not to mention the wildlife that would love nothing more than to add some variety to their meals.Pretty much the only two things you can trust here are yourself and your weapon but even that might just let you down when you least expect it.Best of luck to you young pup and remember, every step you take could be your last.

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

And this is what i've manged to weave together from that little piece of yarn. Now if only i could manage to make something more or less coherent out other things.

I hate this place. It has been some thirty years now but I still remember when everything went to hell.There were five of us that night, it was supposed to be just a dare.We were a bunch of stupid kids back then, we often snuck booze from the old drunk brewing in his shed. We would then go to he nearby forest to drink, to talk and laugh about things that seem so silly now. On that night one of us suggested we hop 'border', said he'd seen a patrol schedule when visiting his uncle and we, in a bit of haze, agreed without thinking.There was a boulder some hundred meters or so from perimeter, we were just supposed to go to it and back. When we all finally reached it, we heard the patrol approaching, we quickly hid behind the rock and quietly cursed the idiot responsible. Still, we thought we'd be fine, let the patrol pass and run back as fast as possible ... if only it had gone that way. A pack of them wild mutts approached, someone of use let out a scream and then the bullets started flying. We panicked and lost sight of eachother. I probably passed out because am not quite sure how I ended up at the checkpoint. When i woke up, my left arm was bandaged, apparently i got shot ... damn thing still hurts every now and then, reminding me every time. I could not see the other four. I didn't think of it much until i got back home and they weren't there. I said that there were five of us that night but really there were only four. Everyone thought i still shaken up by it all when i asked about my friends ... there was never a fifth one, only the four of us. I've since learned many things about the zone and the malicious beasts that live in here.Eventually, eventhough i loathe it from the very bottom of my being, i ended up here. I do not blame the military for the loss of my friends, if anything, I blame myself but more that that I blame that creature and this god forsaken hellhole that has latched its vile chains unto me. I will fight the zone until the day it finally claims its due.

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

*the sound of a door opening, a person walks in*SIT*the person sits and a hourglass with a name appears on the desk in front of them*I SEE ... WELCOME TO THE AKASHIC HALLS. YOU WISH A CHANGE, YES? THERE ARE RULES HOWEVER, YOU ARE ALLOWED ONLY ONE AND NOT WITHOUT COMPENSATION ... TO THESE TERMS YOU MUST AGREE BEFOREHAND. UNDERSTOOD, YES?*the person nods*VERY WELL, UPON YOUR LEAVE, YOU WILL SEE A GLIMPSE OF YOUR COMPENSATION. FINALLY, AND REMEMBER THIS WELL, BREAKING THE TERMS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.*the person leaves. on the table the hourglass and a book beside it light up in flames, leaving nothing behind*'scoffs'FOOLISH YOUNGLINGSWe are, aren't we.INDEED ... TELL ME, DO YOU NOT WISH TO RETURN?Not really but you ought to know it all already.TRUE, BUT IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT 'WHAT IS TO BE' MAY CHANGE.I like it here ... so many stories to read and all the time in the world to read them. Besides, it's not as if I could ever go back to where I was. Those were the terms, yes? Say, how many accepted the unknown after seeing what they've given up?NOT MANY, EVEN FEWER HAVE THE SAME CHOICE AS YOU.Really now, how many of those?IN THIS CYCLE ... THREE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY TWO.You'd think I'd seen some of them by now.THEY NO LONGER ARE OR HAVE YET TO ARRIVE.I wonder when the next will come.SOON ... RELATIVELY BUT BY THEN YOU WILL NO LONGER BE.........*the sound of a door opening, a person walks in*SIT*the person sits and a hourglass with a name appears on the desk in front of them*I SEE, ... WELCOME TO THE AKASHIC HALLS. THE CHANGE YOU SEEK CAN NO LONGER BE DONE, FOR THEY NO LONGER ARE. INTRIGUING HOWEVER THAT YOU HAVE MANAGED TO KEEP YOUR MEMORIES. WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE NOW?To stay.VERY WELL, HOWEVER, COMPENSATION WILL BE REQUIRED. ARE YOU WILLING TO RELINQUISH YOUR FUTURES?Yes.VERY WELL ... ONCE MORE, WELCOME. UNFORTUNATE FOR YOU TO ARRIVE SO LATE, THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN ... HAPPY TO MEET AGAIN.

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

Really should dig out the notebook with 'previous' material in it and go over it, alas, can't seem to be arsed. In other news - A one of the keys on the keyboard went 'fuck this' and just came loose, so one laptop is in the shop for least a sodding week . Finally 'leased' MS Office at the end of the year, cause cheap christmas sales.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------It's been a few months now since i found myself in this place. The people seem decent enough, though they have started to avoid me a lot more ... most likely due to my appearances, which i have started to hide. There is also the fact that i rarely need to rest or have a meal like the rest of them. One of the older folk, who still comes by every now and then, says that i am starting to resemble one of the natives. While i can not say that i understand that comparison, the changes in my physiology are a fact.What started out like some sort of rash has turned into a thick scaly skin, highly resistant to cuts and temperature changes. Nerve endings are apparently a bit further under the skin as it only truly hurts if something actually manages to pierce it or hit with severe blunt force. There might be other things but i am more fascinated in changes other than physical. I seem to be becoming increasingly adept at noticing and locating things before i actually see or hear them; people, animals, even those anomalous areas and the artifacts they create. Something else that I have noticed is that my head is often filled with strange things, strange not in what they are but how they came to be there and how i understand them completely ... as if whole chunks of data have been crammed inside my head, terms and concepts along with all of the information necessary for their comprehension. Well almost complete comprehension ... a single term, which connects almost all of them, evades a firm grasp 'noo-sphere'. Though considering the context and frequency of its appearance, an educated guess would be that it is somehow behind or at the very least linked to most of the things in this place called Zone. I wonder, what should i do next. I've heard about people referred to as 'guides', people, who know more about this place than anyone else ... maybe i should try to find one of them. Yes, that is what i shall do. I will find the answers I seek.

Well, today has been a learning experience in many ways. Firstly, it seems that it is true what they say, that you should neither travel in a straight line nor retread the same path back. Secondly, there is an afterlife ... in the Zone at the very least. And lastly, I always wondered what would it feel like if one were to step onto say, a 'mosquito bald' ... rather anticlimactic really but I must say that seeing nuts and bolts bury themselves into the pavement or dirt does not do justice to the event. You can barely register the sound of your body going 'crunch' before you are a wet stain on the ground.I think i will try to annoy the people at the camp. Well fuck, this is disappointing, can't do anything ... this is going to be one boring afterlife.

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut

And another random piece. Side note- though I'm particularly fond of some of the design choices in office 2016, it seems a bit better than the 2013 version.

During his first twenty odd years of life he had never been much of a believer in higher powers but having spent the last thirty years in the Zone had changed his view on things somewhat. For those, who had been in the Zone long enough, the fact that the place was alive and a with a will of its own, was undeniable. Right now, he was cursing pushing his luck and praying something fierce towards ‘mother zone’, that the people after him would be arrogant or stupid enough not to check for the basic traps he had set up in this apartment block. He’d been plenty arrogant himself earlier that day, having taken the artefact hunt more lightly due to recent good luck. Now he had to somehow deal with a squad of mercs. Though they were few in number, from what he could tell, and he knew the surroundings, he was also low on ammunition having run into a pack of dogs just before. All he could do was pray and hope that at least one or two of them would set off a trip—wired grenade or landmine.It seemed like his prayers had finally been answered, there was an explosion on the floor below, followed by a slew of violent cussing. Shortly after another explosion echoed from the other side of the building … that was at least two of them down. He pondered a bit on whether to use the ‘active ping’ function of the pda to check on enemy numbers. His deliberation was cut short however as he heard noise from the hallway and quickly made his way to the neighboring room via balcony. As he heard the door being opened and another grenade go off, he rushed into the hallway in order to find a new location. Shortly after he noticed something disturbing … there was no sound in this hallway and it seemed to go on endlessly. Realizing where he was now, he just sat down and smiled wryly while thinking about the cruel mistress that had led him here … sure, he was now safe from the mercs but the price was a bit too steep.

THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMANThere is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt. CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE Knowledge is power. Guard it well. We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die. Akir man yamut malak al-mut